Washington dismisses DE Pio Vatuvei from team

Pio Vatuvei, a sophomore defensive end, has been dismissed from the Washington football program for a violation of team rules, coach Steve Sarkisian announced Tuesday.

Vauvei, 6 feet 2, 281 pounds from Patterson, Calif., played in nine games last season as a true freshman.

“We hold our student-athletes to a high standard on and off the field, and our players are made aware of that from the moment we begin recruiting them,” Sarkisian said. “The University of Washington is about the team, and is bigger than one individual player. Pio had numerous opportunities to display behavior consistent with the values of our program, and unfortunately he fell short of our standards. We wish him the best of luck moving forward.”

The statement said that Sarkisian and other department officials would have no further comment on the matter at this time.